# What's the distinction between single and multi camera TV shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2015, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079 "2015-05-02T07:18:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/21 "2015-05-04T09:03:09Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I don’t see what is so confusing about it. When I first became aware of the the concept, I watched a few scenes of a program labelled as such. During a back-and-forth between two characters, their peripheral movements - hands and arms etc. - and the background goings on, were seamless between cuts. Seemed like an awful lot of work to get right, so initially I wasn’t sure I’d understood the idea correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/22 "2015-05-04T11:47:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Maybe the confusing part is that there are some shows, like _Seinfeld_, that have parts that are filmed in standard sets (e.g. Jerry’s apartment) in front of a live audience, but also parts where the characters are outside in different locations. Actually, most of the outdoor scenes in Seinfeld were shot on an outdoor set. There’s a studio lot with a New York street set. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/23 "2015-05-08T18:25:32Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Perhaps [this picture](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honeymooners#/media/File:Honeymooners_Electronicam.jpg) of the set of The Honeymooners will help you understand what we’re talking about by a multi/3-camera setup - note it’s basically a fixed stage set with cameras simultaneously filming from the left, the center, and the right. > > If you watch The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Cheers, The Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Friends, etc. you can imagine that’s how they’re filmed - watch an episode of M_A_S\*H, Malcolm in the Middle, Arrested Development, Parks & Rec, 30 Rock, etc. and you’ll see they must be filmed very differently. In the 1950s video recording had yet to be perfected, so shows were either broadcast live or were shot on film. Shows shot on film were then also edited on film, and broadcast on film via a [telecine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine)device. Shooting on film could be done ‘single-camera’ style like _The Burns & Allen Show, Father Knows Best, Lassie, Leave it to Beaver_ etc. or ‘multi-camera’ style (multi inevitably meaning three) like _I Love Lucy_. In fact \*Lucy \*(or rather, Desi Arnez) is considered the inventor of the ‘multi-camera’ style. Filming multi-camera allowed for a studio audience with real laughter and a more ‘live’ presentation but without the complications and risks of actually broadcasting live. It was, however, more expensive. _The Honeymooners_ is an unusual example. The original, ‘classic 39’ two-season run of the series was both broadcast live _and_ filmed. If you read the credits they mention the “Electronicam TV/Film System”. Although that picture of the set is too small to really see, those cameras were unique. The image went thru a beam splitter and was simultaneously broadcast via a video camera and recorded onto film stock via a ‘movie’ camera. The film was then edited together (duplicating how it was originally broadcast) for rebroadcasting (aka reruns). Jackie Gleason did this because he felt the show was his best work and had long rerun value. And at that time the only way to save and rerun live shows was to simply point a movie camera at a monitor and film the TV screen’s image (called a [kinescope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinescope)) which gave poor quality. This was even more expensive than above and only happened because Gleason was a huge TV star (I think he also owned the show and may have helped pay for the system himself). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/24 "2015-05-08T18:41:10Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Multi-camera shows are virtually always shot in a studio, often with a studio audience and/or a laugh track. Single camera shows more often have scenes outside and rarely/never have a laugh track. > > Multi-camera shows have an easier time building up comedic momentum because the actors get to react to each other in real-time. With single camera shows they tend to leave pauses when reacting to each other so the editors can cut between different takes from different angles. That’s an interesting perspective, because I would have thought it was the opposite. I guess it’s a different kind of momentum. Single cam shows can quicken things by editing, so that there’s rapid fire jokes. Multi-cam shows often have to leave gaps for the studio audience laughter. There’s a video online where someone took a clip from The Big Bang Theory and edited out the studio audience laughter, and it made it unbearably awkward. There’s advantages and disadvantages to both types of shows. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/25 "2015-05-09T00:14:40Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > There’s a video online where someone took a clip from The Big Bang Theory and edited out the studio audience laughter, and it made it unbearably awkward. One of the big reasons single camera sitcoms and/or dramadies practically disappeared was because people no longer accepted the artificial laugh track, but at the same time refused to watch a show without one! (IOW it had to have a studio audience, which precluded doing it single-camera). All thru the late 70s and 80s artists on single-camera dramedy shows constantly fought to remove laugh tracks because they were crass and cheesy, but the networks stood by their research that showed that the vast majority of people would not watch a comedy without laughter, real or otherwise. It’s only been in the last ten years or so that such ‘high-brow’ comedies (i.e. single-camera, no laughter) like _The Office, Arrested Development, Malcolm in the Middle_ etc. have finally found some success. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/26 "2015-05-09T00:43:52Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > …It was, however, more expensive… Which is why Lucy & Desi agreed to lower salaries in exchange for the rights to film prints, which CBS assumed were worthless; then came things like the rerun and overseas syndication. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/27 "2015-05-10T13:29:13Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > But what I don’t get is why it matters enough to signpost a show as single or multi camera. How would a viewer know whether a different camera is being used for some shots and what does it matter? I’m not entirely sure that this question has been answered directly. It matters because the feel and style of the show is very different based on whether it is a single-camera or multi-camera show. A single-camera style has a more cinematic feel to it and a multi-camera style has a very studio-centered feel to it. There are people who say they don’t like multi-camera shows because they have a much more artificial feel to them, as if you are sitting in an audience and watching someone perform on a set. Multi-camera is an extremely efficient way of shooting a series. You have a limited number of sets and you have a limited number of camera placements and you have a limited number of editing choices. They can be produced much faster and thus cost less to produce. > [@Mangetout](#): > > What kind of show? For a drama of some kind, a single uncut view means the cast have to learn their lines as if performing on stage, which is artistically admirable. This has been addressed to some extent before, but it’s worth emphasizing. They are not performing a play as you would see it in an actual live theater setting. They shoot in bursts, they stop, they re-take scenes, they try different dialogue, they try different blocking, there are cameras and mike booms and other equipment blocking the audience’s view. If there are some scenes that are shot on location or on outdoor sets, the audience watches them on monitors. And if they are being completely efficient with production costs, they do not necessarily shoot the scenes in the order of the story. They’ll shoot all scenes in a particular set together. They might shoot those out of order depending on the actors’ personal schedules, or other considerations like makeup and special effects. If it’s a comedy, then while all these interruptions are going on, one or more warm up comedians might come out to keep the audience giddy and punchy. It’s not at all like a play being performed from beginning to end as a single, uninterrupted artist presentation. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/28 "2015-05-10T15:40:53Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > A single-camera style has a more cinematic feel to it and a multi-camera style has a very studio-centered feel to it. There are people who say they don’t like multi-camera shows because they have a much more artificial feel to them, as if you are sitting in an audience and watching someone perform on a set. Well, what feels “artificial” can change depending on what the audience is used to and what sort of expectations they have. I suspect that the rise of reality shows has helped make single-camera sitcoms seem “realistic”, as there are now plenty of shows that go into real people’s homes and workplaces and don’t have to shoot through the “fourth wall”. So while I agree single-camera shows generally seem less artificial now, opinion on that could someday shift. It’s arguably _less_ artificial to shoot a show before a live audience with fewer camera angles and less editing, even if this seems cheesy and dated to us now. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/29 "2015-05-11T14:03:18Z")
One fairly recent element of some comedies is the “mockumentary” feel. Modern Family, Parks & Rec and The Office all use mockumentary takes where a man character will talk directly to the camera. These are always part of a single camera show. > **[Mockumentary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary)** > > A mockumentary (a portmanteau of mock and documentary) is one type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a documentary which in itself is a subset of a Faux-Documentry style of film-making. > These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictional setting, or to parody the documentary form itself. While mockumentaries are usually comedic, pseudo-documentaries are their dramatic equivalents. However, pseudo-documen... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/30 "2015-05-12T19:50:32Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > One of the big reasons single camera sitcoms and/or dramadies practically disappeared was because people no longer accepted the artificial laugh track, but at the same time refused to watch a show without one! (IOW it had to have a studio audience, which precluded doing it single-camera). All thru the late 70s and 80s artists on single-camera dramedy shows constantly fought to remove laugh tracks because they were crass and cheesy, but the networks stood by their research that showed that the vast majority of people would not watch a comedy without laughter, real or otherwise. Back in 1970 (I think), _ **The Odd Couple** _ invited the home audience to “participate in a unique experiment” and vote on whether they preferred an episode (single-camera) without a laugh track. The response to that laughless episode must have been considerable, since they switched to a three-camera format with a live audience in their second season. _MAS_H\*\*\* started out with a pretty lively laugh track, but it gradually faded over the years. If it was used at all in the show’s final season, I honestly don’t remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079/31 "2015-05-14T04:16:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Back in 1970 (I think), _ **The Odd Couple** _ invited the home audience to “participate in a unique experiment” and vote on whether they preferred an episode (single-camera) without a laugh track. The response to that laughless episode must have been considerable, since they switched to a three-camera format with a live audience in their second season. > > _MAS_H\*\*\* started out with a pretty lively laugh track, but it gradually faded over the years. If it was used at all in the show’s final season, I honestly don’t remember it. Yeah, I remember both shows. I started watching _The Odd Couple_ in syndication and I remember the ‘laugh-trackless’ episode from the first season. It was the one where Oscar gets a job at the Playboy-like girlie magazine. As much as I can understand the hatred for laugh tracks, as a kid I found that episode painfully awkward to watch. Same goes for _MASH_. They did that faux-documentary B&W episode without a laugh track and I found it equally unfunny. It was partly because it was just the norm I was used to, but also the style of comedy then. A single camera, laugh-trackless sitcom needs to have a very smart and dark or mean self-referencing meta-element to its humor (think \*Arrested Development \*or _The Office_). Although \*MASH \*and \*The Odd Couple \*were good shows they really needed the back & forth of joke/laugh (even fake ones) to work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-distinction-between-single-and-multi-camera-tv-shows/719079.md?page=1)